In this prospective, multicenter study, former premature and full-term infants ages, 6–17 months, received 2 doses of TIV during the 2006–7 or 2007–8 influenza seasons. Sera were drawn before dose 1 and 4–6 weeks after dose 2. Antibody was measured by hemagglutination inhibition.

Former premature infants had antibody responses to two TIV doses greater than or equal to those of full-term children. Two TIV doses are immunogenic and well tolerated in ELBW, premature infants 6–17 months old.

The effect of oxygen concentration on lowering pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) during resuscitation in a model of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) is not known. PPHN was induced in fetal lambs by ductal ligation 9 d prior to delivery. Following delivery by cesarean section, resuscitation of PPHN lambs with 21%, 50%, or 100% O2 (n=6 each) for 30min produced similar decreases in PVR. Lambs were then ventilated with 50% O2 for 60min and exposed to inhaled NO (iNO-20ppm). Initial resuscitation with 100% O2 significantly impaired the subsequent response to iNO compared to 21% O2 (42±9 vs. 22±4% decrease from baseline PVR). Finally, each lamb was randomly and sequentially ventilated with 10%, 21%, 50%, or 100% O2. PVR decreased with increased concentrations of inhaled O2 up to 50%, there being no additional decrease in PVR with 100% O2. When PVR was correlated with PaO2, the maximal change in PVR was achieved at PaO2 values < 60 mmHg. We conclude that resuscitation with 100% O2 does not enhance pulmonary vasodilation compared to 21% and 50% O2, but impairs the subsequent response to iNO in PPHN lambs. Hypoxia increases PVR but hyperoxia does not confer significant additional pulmonary vasodilation in lambs with PPHN.

The effect of resuscitation with varying levels of O2 on pulmonary hemodynamics at birth is not well known. We hypothesized that the decrease in pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and subsequent response to pulmonary vasoconstrictors and vasodilators will differ following resuscitation with 21%, 50%, or 100%O2 for 30 min at birth in normal term lambs. Lambs at 141 d gestation were delivered by cesarean section and ventilated with 21% (21% Res; n = 6), 50% (50% Res; n = 6), or 100% O2 (100% Res; n = 7) for 30 min followed by ventilation with 21% O2 in all three groups. A greater decrease in PVR was seen with 50% and 100% O2 ventilation than with 21% O2 (0.21 ± 0.02, 0.21 ± 0.02, and 0.34 ± 0.05 mm Hg/mL/min/kg, respectively). Subsequent pulmonary vasoconstriction to hypoxia (10% O2) and the thromboxane analog U46619 (0.5 and 1 μg/kg/min) was similar in all three groups. After inducing a stable elevation in PVR with U46619, impaired pulmonary vasodilation to inhaled NO (59 ± 4, 65 ± 4, and 74 ± 5% of baseline PVR with 21, 50, and 100%Res, respectively) and acetylcholine infusion (67 ± 8, 75 ± 6, and 87 ± 4% of baseline PVR with 21, 50, and 100%Res, respectively) and rebound pulmonary hypertension following their withdrawal were observed in the 100%Res group. We conclude that, while ventilation with 100% O2 at birth results in a greater initial decrease in PVR, subsequent pulmonary vasodilation to NO/acetylcholine is impaired.

Recent studies suggest that a bronchial-derived relaxing factor (BrDRF) decreases the contractility of newborn, but not fetal, rat pulmonary arteries (PAs) by a nitric oxide (NO)-mediated mechanism. We studied the effect of an adjacent bronchus on PA contractility to norepinephrine (NE) in late-gestation fetal (n = 7), neonatal (1 day old, n = 9), ventilated neonatal (24-h ventilation from birth with 100% oxygen, n = 9), and adult sheep (n = 6) in the presence and absence of the NO synthase inhibitor Nω-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA). The sheep were anesthetized and killed, and fifth-generation PA rings with and without an attached adjacent bronchus (PA+Br) were contracted in standard tissue baths with NE (10−8–10−6 M). NE contractions were expressed as fraction of KCl (118 mM) contraction and as grams of contraction force. NE contractions were significantly diminished by the presence of an attached bronchus in the neonatal and ventilated neonatal and adult, but not fetal, lambs. Hyperoxic ventilation markedly increased NE contractions in PA and PA+Br. L-NNA significantly enhanced NE contractions in PA+Br in postnatal but not in fetal lambs. Pretreatment with L-NNA abolished the difference between NE contractions in PA and PA+Br in neonatal but not in hyperoxic ventilated neonatal lambs. We conclude that there is a BrDRF that is developmentally regulated and has vascular activity postnatally but not during fetal life. The effect of BrDRF is predominantly mediated by NO in air-breathing neonatal lambs but may involve a second non-NO mediator following hyperoxic ventilation. We speculate that BrDRF may have an important role in postnatal changes in pulmonary arterial reactivity.

The optimal FiO2 during neonatal resuscitation is a subject of controversy. The effect of exposure to high levels of inspired oxygen on pulmonary arterial (PA) contractility is not known. We studied differences in PA vasoreactivity in term lambs initially ventilated with 21% or 100% oxygen, followed by continued ventilation using oxygen as needed for 24 h, or ventilated with 100% oxygen for 24 h and room air breathing 1-d-old lambs. Term lambs were delivered by cesarean section, intubated, and ventilated with 21% (21%Res) or 100% oxygen (100%Res) for the first 30 min of life. Subsequently, the ventilator FiO2 was adjusted to maintain a PaO2 between 45 and 65 mm Hg for 24 h. Five lambs were ventilated continuously with 100% oxygen (100%24h). Six spontaneously breathing newborn lambs (RA Spont) were studied for comparison. Lambs were killed at 24 h of life and PA rings were isolated and contracted with norepinephrine (NE) and KCl and some were relaxed with A23187 and SNAP in tissue baths. NE and KCl induced contractions were highest in PA isolated from 100%24h lambs, and were significantly higher in 100%Res lambs than PA from 21%Res lambs. Contraction responses in PA from RA Spont lambs were similar to 21%Res lambs. Relaxations to A23187 and SNAP were similar among all ventilated groups. PA contractility to NE and KCl is increased following both brief (30 min) and prolonged (24 h) exposure to 100% oxygen during mechanical ventilation. In contrast, normoxic resuscitation and ventilation do not increase PA contractility.

Surfactant dysfunction may contribute to the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in persistently ventilated preterm infants. We conducted a multicenter randomized, blinded, pilot study to assess the safety and efficacy of late administration of doses of a surfactant protein-B (SP-B)-containing surfactant (calfactant) in combination with prolonged inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) in infants ≤1,000 g birth weight (BW).

Methods:

We randomized 85 preterm infants ventilated at 7–14 d after birth to receive either late administration of surfactant (up to 5 doses) plus prolonged iNO or iNO alone. Large aggregate surfactant was isolated from daily tracheal aspirates (TAs) for measurement of SP-B content, total protein, and phospholipid (PL).

Results:

Late administration of surfactant had minimal acute adverse effects. Clinical status as well as surfactant recovery and SP-B content in tracheal aspirate were transiently improved as compared to the controls; these effects waned after 1 d. The change in SP-B content with surfactant dosing was positively correlated with SP-B levels during treatment (r = 0.50, P = 0.02).

Conclusion:

Low SP-B values increased with calfactant administration, but the relationship of this response to SP-B levels suggests that degradation is a contributing mechanism for SP-B deficiency and surfactant dysfunction. We conclude that late therapy with surfactant in combination with iNO is safe and transiently increases surfactant SP-B content, possibly leading to improved short- and long-term respiratory outcomes.